§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
What environmental studies of the contribution of motor-car exhausts to ill-health, including asthma, and to global pollution, have been carried out in relation to the doubling of motor-car numbers, and the network of 12 lane superhighways contemplated by the Department of Transport, and which departments have commissioned these studies and from whom.
The Earl of CaithnessThe Department of Health is studying the effects of air pollutants on health. The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) and the Advisory Group on Medical Aspects of Air Pollution (MAAPE) are examining air pollutants, to estimate their likely effects and recommending research work needed in this area.
As to estimates of future vehicle emissions, the Department of the Environment have published a 54WA report in conjunction with the Warren Spring Laboratory, entitled, Pollution in the Atmosphere; Future Emissions from the UK, by H. S. Eggleston, LR88 (AP). The report concludes that, on the basis of broadly unchanged policies, national road transport emissions will decrease over the next 10 to 20 years before rising again.
The mid-point of the national road traffic forecasts is consistent with CO2 emissions from motor vehicles increasing to about 22 per cent. above 1990 levels from 2000. The Government are addressing the effect of this projected increase as part of the national programme of greenhouse gas mitigation measures being developed to meet the United Kingdom's obligations under the Climate Change Convention.
There are no proposals for a network of 12 lane superhighways.